Beef with Broccoli

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An easy version of a favorite Chinese take-out dish! Tender beef is marinated then quickly cooked along with fresh broccoli. Restaurant quality... at home!

I love love love Chinese food! I tend to rotate between several different dishes but, if I trust the restaurant's meat quality, beef with broccoli is one of my top choices. Have you ever ordered beef at a restaurant and gotten chewy, cheap cuts of meat instead? Yeah, that's why I love making things at home!

Beef with broccoli is super simple to make. This recipe uses a quick marinade to ensure your beef is fork tender and quick cooking helps the broccoli from being overcooked and limp. The sauce? Flavorful, not runny, and enough in the pan for you to smother your rice in.

I'm not the only one scooping out sauce to drizzle all over my rice, am I?

Put down the take-out menu and whip this up instead!

 

Beef with Broccoli

For the marinade:

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon water

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1.5 lbs flank steak, cut into thin strips against the grain

For the rest of the dish:

1 cup low sodium soy sauce 

4 tablespoons brown sugar

8 cloves garlic, minced

4 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons sherry

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 lb broccoli florets

In a small bowl, whisk together the marinade ingredients. Place the sliced steak into a gallon size ziplock and pour the marinade ingredients over top. Seal, toss gently, and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour. 

When ready to cook, whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, flour, and sherry. Set aside.

In a large wok or pan, heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over high heat until shimmering. Add the broccoli and saute for 3 minutes, stirring often. Transfer to a plate.

Reduce heat to medium-high and carefully add the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Add the marinated steak and half of the prepared sauce. Saute for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until the meat is cooked through and no longer pink. Add the broccoli and remaining sauce and saute another minute.

Serve hot.

Source: adapted from Rainy Day Gal

Honey Walnut Shrimp (Panda Express Copycat)

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Light and crispy battered shrimp are quickly fried and then tossed in a sweet and creamy sauce with candied walnuts. Restaurant quality in minutes!

I love making restaurant copycat dishes at home... especially since our favorite local Chinese restaurant closed and we haven't found a safe alternative. Honey Walnut Shrimp is a standard dish on most Chinese restaurant menus - and a popular one at Panda Express - and it's absolutely my favorite. The batter is always light and crunchy and the sauce is addictive. Top it off with candied nuts and what could go wrong?

The key to your success in mastering the Chinese restaurant batter is rice flour. It does something magical to your batter making it adhere perfectly to the shrimp and fry up quickly and perfectly. Plus, it's naturally gluten free!

This is one of our top favorite recipes, and I can never seem to make enough. It'll be a family favorite in your house, too!

I first shared this recipe 4 years ago and it deserved an update and new photo!

Honey Walnut Shrimp

1 cup water

2/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup walnut (whole or pieces)

4 egg whites

2/3 cup rice flour

1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed - don't pat dry

1/4 cup mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon canned sweetened condensed milk

1 cup vegetable oil, for frying

Combine the water and sugar together in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and add the walnuts. Boil for 2 minutes, drain, and spread walnuts out on a cookie sheet to dry.

Whip egg whites in a medium mixing bowl until foamy. Stir in the rice flour (it should be pasty in consistency). 

Heat the oil in a heavy deep skillet over medium-high heat. One hot enough to fry, dip each shrimp in the batter and then fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes total. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels using a slotted spoon. 

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, honey, and sweetened condensed milk. Add the shrimp and gently toss in the sauce. Sprinkle the candied walnuts on top. 

Source: adapted from All Recipes